ASLA 2014 Honor Award, Analysis and Planning Category. The Creative Corridor: A Main Street Revitalization for Little Rock by University of Arkansas Community Design Center and Marlon Blackwell Architect. Image: University of Arkansas Community Design Center + Marlon Blackwell Architects

What is missing from this list is “PERMIT transit-oriented development…” Across the country countless planners, landscape architects and developers understand and promote the benefits of denser development, even in smaller cities. We want to do it, but local zoning regulations almost inevitably prohibit such development. Transit-oriented development doesn’t have to be mandated by local government. It has to be permitted by local government.

These communities include those located in coastal and inland floodplains as
well as underserved and low-income communities.

The panel recommended a number of solutions to help ensure that the safety, needs, and well-being of vulnerable communities are considered by policy makers, elected officials, landscape architects, and others in the design and planning professions:

Assess and address climate impacts on vulnerable communities.

Focus on environmental justice and equitable access to transportation, housing, jobs, and recreation and open space.

Develop relocation, retreat, and/or evacuation plans.

Limit or prohibit building in floodplains to protect life, property, and floodplain function.

According to the ASLA Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience, transportation must be considered through multiple lenses: as critical connectivity from homes to jobs, amenities, and essential services; as a major source of greenhouse gas emissions; and as a contributor to or detractor from a community’s appearance and function. Planned and designed thoughtfully, transportation systems can promote resilience.

ASLA recently released a report that includes the panel’s recommendations for improving transportation systems:

What is missing from this list is “PERMIT transit-oriented development, including affordable housing…” Across the country countless planners, landscape architects and developers understand and promote the benefits of denser, transit oriented development and the provision of affordable housing, even in smaller cities. We want to do it, but local zoning regulations, backed up by NIMBY “protect neighborhood character” citizen lobbies, almost inevitably prohibit such development.
Transit-oriented development doesn’t have to be mandated by local government. It has to be permitted by local government, and accepted by local communities.

Agriculture was a topic of considerable interest to the ASLA Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience when it convened in September 2017. According to the panel’s recently released report, conventional—and unsustainable—development patterns of urban and suburban sprawl are causing significant loss of farmland across the United States and around the globe.

At the same time, agricultural systems are being stressed by the effects of climate change and unsustainable farming practices.

Current and future impacts on food production and security, including equitable access to healthy food options, must be addressed.

All of the above have been successful in the communities we serve. We specialize in regenerative and productive landscapes at all scales: urban farms and food justice, suburban-rural community farms and farmland preservation, agroforestry projects, productive conservation, climate-smart agriculture, etc.
We are particularly interested in building partnerships with land trusts to adopt innovative agricultural models on protected land.

We have provided a platform for landscape architects, public officials, and other design and planning professionals to share their views on how to help communities adapt to climate change through smart design policies.

The ASLA Climate Change & Resilience Forum is meant to start a dialogue about smart policies that work at all levels.